This Game is Better!
by Lady Pisces 2020
Summary: Chyna O. Hart and Jackson Dash used to be friendly neighbors that greet each other with a friendly smile every day. One day, the two teenagers met up and chatted in Starbucks and both found out that they're HUGE fans of certain video games. However, the games are entirely different. Chyna loves Super Mario games and Jackson loves Sonic the Hedgehog games. They both never liked each
1. The Prologue of All of  (12-05 16:51:39)

They didn't think it was a big deal at first.

They always greet each other with a hello every morning when they walk to school. On rare occasions, they stop to do small talk like, "Hi, how are you?", "Great, and you?", "Great. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Something this simple doesn't really define a deep friendship bond, does it?

This is a story of two teenagers named Chyna O. Hart and Jackson Dash. This duet has been neighbors for several years, yet never bothered to try to have a normal conversation. It's not because they're shy. It's because they don't see the need to.

That is until March 16, 2018.

Jackson drove up to a Starbucks after school and walked into the building. As he lined up with the other strangers, he noticed a familiar fawn-colored hair. He got his latte and went to sit next to her. The girl looked at him with questioning eyes but ignored him for a while. Then one of them decided to break the ice.

"Don't you ever think it's weird that we never hung out very often. After all these years as neighbors?" Jackson questioned curiously. The girl looks at him with curious eyes but silently agrees. "I guess so," the girl responded. Jackson was pretty interested in learning about his mysterious neighbor. Since he didn't have a lot of friends, he figured it couldn't hurt to make one more before he graduates. Jackson smiled in a friendly manner and said, "Well hi! My name is Jackson. What's yours?" The girl was a bit startled at his attempt to start a conversation. "M-my name is Chyna…" she replied. Chyna secretly was interested in learning more about him as well.

They both talked for an hour and a half, passing each other questions, jokes, all while also sipping on their coffee in the middle of the afternoon. They surprisingly have a bunch in common such as video games. In fact, they're about to talk about it right now. Neither of them knows this particular topic was going to be the start of all of this trouble.

"Sometimes all I want to do is just stay inside and play video games all day," Jackson joked. Chyna giggled and asked, "Well, what is your favorite video game anyway?" Jackson smiled with glee, he loved this exceptional video game that he was so excited to share it with his new friend. "I seriously love all of the **Sonic the Hedgehog** games! How about you?" Jackson inquired. The judgmental look that flashed across her face worried him a little bit, but not too much since he's eager to know her favorite video game. Any game will do, all except-, "Well, I've always been a fan of the **Super Mario** games ever since I was little." Chyna answered, feeling quite proud. Jackson, however, couldn't stop himself by questioning,"The fat mushroom-munching plumber, you're kidding right?"

 _Oh boy._

Chyna looks quite offended but quickly shook it off. " _Is he? Nah, he wouldn't_ " thought Chyna, hoping that he wasn't a person who dislikes Mario games. " _I mean, who in their right mind hates Mario games_?" Chyna tries to stay calm but even she couldn't keep her mouth shut by sassing, "Well your freaky, blue, naked animal isn't all that it's cracked up to be either."

Oh boy.

Jackson's eyes widen. He wasn't expecting her to say something like that to Sonic. His favorite all-time hero! Jackson's teeth started to clench. His hands tighten into a fist, he stands up, and **slams** his fists on their table! "How **DARE** you say that!" This action catches the eyes of their surroundings. Chyna quickly grabs her coffee so it won't spill. Chyna was the one person that Jackson wants their attention the most. She was seriously going to pay for insulting Sonic. However, Chyna wasn't going to back down as he wanted. No way. Unless he apologizes, she was never going to forgive him for bad-mouthing Mario. "You, sir, are **NO BETTER**!" Chyna objected.

 **OH BOY**

Chyna and Jackson glared at each other. Almost to the point where their eyes felt like daggers ready to strike when ready. The manager happened to be nearby, anxious at the thought of a furious fight over something as silly as video game characters. Not wanting to be on the sidelines, the manager stepped in between them. The manager was saying something to them, however, the two teens weren't paying attention to their surroundings. Their glares were so bitter, the people backed away to the end of the store just to avoid the fight as much as possible. The manager was getting peeved. He grabbed both of the teens' shoulders and forcibly pushed them out of Starbucks. The kids couldn't exactly blame the dude for doing that.

Even though they were beginning to like each other, their hatred for each other's games separated them the most. Why? Nobody knows. Will we ever find out? We will. But for now, they each went their separate ways. I'll tell you right now that when they cross paths again, there'll be a heck of a lot of fighting and arguing.

Will they ever make up? Well... at the end of their foreshadowing adventure, they'll make that decision then.


	2. Chapter 1: Rude but Shocking Awakening

It's been a month since their little… incident. Things haven't been the same ever since.

Every time they happened to walk by each other, they would glare and insult each other under their breath. They don't go to the same school, so luckily every student are able to avoid their intense atmosphere.

They couldn't help it. All of the insults that were made towards their all-time favorite hero was just so offensive! Even so, they kept dishonoring both the gamer and their video games every time they pass each other. The parents and their friends took notice of their behavior and tried to talk them out. The teenagers would just shake it off and mumble under their breath every time they were asked the same questions.

"What's the matter?"

"Dude, is everything ok?"

"Did something happen?"

"Seriously what happened? You've been like this for weeks now."

"Ok, what's wrong?'

It was nice for them to be concerned about their safety. However, this is a matter that only Jackson and Chyna can deal with. Nobody should get involved. Besides, they wouldn't understand anyway.

Remember that the gamers were both neighbors? We're talking about next-door neighbors.

That, somehow, made things to be pretty more messed up than a usual feud.

Every once in a while, they would come up with schemes or pranks just to make them miserable. Sometimes they get creative with it. For example, Chyna once catapulted ACTUAL burning flowers towards their lawn and burned almost everything. Jackson got her back by throwing eggs, that's painted to look like Eggman, to Hart's open windows and made a huge mess. Chyna placed frogs and fishes into Dash's pool. Jackson put a pile of bugs on Hart's doorstep. Some of their pranks were silly and made just to get under each other's skin. Two weeks ago, Jackson's parents called some plumbers to fix a loose pipe. Meanwhile, Chyna paid the plumbers $20 to dress up as Mario and Luigi. So when they came over, Jackson was already pissed off and annoyed. Just a week ago, Jackson caught a wild hedgehog and mailed it to her house. When the Hart family opened the package, they quickly recovered from the turned shock and immediately called the vet. Chyna's little brother wanted to keep it as a pet, but she strongly objected to that idea.

A ton of petty pranks and fighting is all they remember doing for the past three months. However, the worst scheme of all is when they messed up their college interview. Fun fact, they both have a college that they both want to go to. When it was time for their interview, they tried their very best to apply and talk to the people via computer. Even so, things didn't turn out as planned. It turned out that they both sabotaged the meeting. They were 20 minutes late, constantly interrupted, they unintentionally got mad at the interviewer, repetitive texts, and phone calls, and people kept shouting things to make them look bad. In the end, the interviewer couldn't handle it anymore and they weren't able to enter their dream college.

The parents saw and heard what happened. They felt sympathy for their children, however, they knew that the feud was the main cause of this whole thing and demanded that they make up and apologize. At this point, you would think that they would end this peacefully right? Wrong. Not Jackson and Chyna. Their stubbornness and pride won't budge. In fact, It just made them, even more, angrier at their neighbor.

"How dare they…"

The parents refuse to let this continue. They both state that tomorrow morning, they would end this fighting once and for all. They wanted to argue but knew their parents wouldn't change their minds. Although, they could at least come up with one more nasty plot. That would make them feel better. For now, they both have to get a good night's rest. They showered, brushed their teeth, put on their pajamas, and turned off the lights in order to drift away in slumber. As they rested their heads on their pillow, slightly irritated, their eyes slowly close as they start to dream...

White.

Everywhere you look, white completely fills the room. Well, almost everything.

Jackson looked around, confused and lost. It didn't take him long to spot his arch nemesis from across the room. Chyna didn't waste a second to angrily stomp over to where Jackson is.

 _SLAP!_

Chyna, before Jackson could blink, slapped him with all of her might. The sudden violence made Jackson quiet with shock and disbelief. "You…" Chyna growled, her fury growing rapidly. "You JERK! It's one thing to send a filthy rodent to my house, but sabotaging my dream career is on a whole other level!"

"Don't act so innocent!" Jackson objected. "You did the exact same thing! By the way, at least my pranks don't destroy property!"

"Oh please! The bugs and the rotten egg smell begs to differ!"

"You sure that's not your natural scent?"

" _GASP!_ You take that back! Your stupid eggs almost ruined my Super Mario merchandises!"

"That's what you get for ruining my backyard and my pool!"

"I don't see why you're so upset about the pool. You barely have any meat on those bones, so you probably sink immediately."

The bickering and the arguing kept on coming. The tense atmosphere rose and rose until it could almost reach the tip of the iceberg. Jackson clenched his fist and was prepared to strike as a little revenge from earlier. Chyna saw this and shielded herself with her arms. As Jackson moved forward to hit her, a voice interrupted them.

 ** _"STOP! Stop this nonsense_** ** _immediately!"_**

Jackson and Chyna froze. The voice was loud and echoing as a thunderstorm. They looked around, unable to find the source of the voice. They look at each other, both deciding to put the petty fight on hold. They remain quiet as they listen carefully, hoping they didn't go crazy for a moment. Just when their fight was about to become crazy indeed...

 ** _"Much better…Geez, I thought that would never end."_**

The second time they heard the voice, their hands and legs were lightly shaking. The unknown voice sent a mysterious aura down their spine. Their instincts were telling them to be careful since they don't know how much power this voice has. Even so, Chyna built up the courage to shout, "Hey, who are you? Show yourself!" Jackson stared at her in disbelief of her stupidity.

 ** _"Relax, I'm not here to hurt anybody. Besides, even if I wanted to, I can't._** **_You guys are aware that this is a dream, right?"_**

The two teens looked at each other and their surroundings. Things were starting to make sense. Like, why Jackson felt no pain from Chyna's slap earlier and why they're both standing in a room where literally nothing else exists. But even so, they couldn't figure out why they were both in the same dream. Why them? Why now? They hate each other. Why? Why? Why? They want answers.

"Doesn't the fact that the plumber's most freakish fan," Chyna glared at Jackson's comment, "and I having the same dream seems a little off? Impossible even." Jackson remarked, looking around for the source of the mysterious voice.

"Is this," Chyna points at every direction, "also your doing?"

 ** _"Correct. As for you, I'm afraid you have no choice but to believe it. After all, anything is possible. Both in the real world and in the world that both of your beloved heroes live in."_**

The voice got a point. Mario and Sonic faced unbelievable things during their adventures and this shouldn't be any different. But there's a flaw in that logic. Jackson and Chyna know the difference between reality and the video game world. Something like this happening in the real world shouldn't be happening at all. They were concerned and cautious, but knowing that this is all a dream makes things reassuring since they're probably going to forget all about it when they wake up anyway.

Jackson sighed, "Ok, but seriously. Why are we here?"

 ** _"You two are here for a quest."_**

This caught the two teens off guard. A quest? For what?

"Um...-" Chyna was going to ask her question but she was interrupted.

 ** _"Yes, you two are working together."_**

The teens groaned in disappointment.

 ** _"Hey! Don't complain! This would be a lot more difficult if you had to do it alone!"_**

They doubted it.

 ** _"Ahem, now then... this quest is a scavenger hunt and collect combo. You two have to enter different worlds in a different time zone in order to find the Star Rings. Which is this..."_**

Before them, a shining light appeared turned into a shape of a golden ring with a crystallized star in the center. Truly a sight to behold. The funny thing is that both Jackson and Chyna recognize one of the parts from their video games. The rings were a life support when Jackson played as Sonic either when he's shopping or running around. Jackson guessed the crystal star thingy is probably based off of a chaos emerald. The star grants Mario invincibility which makes Chyna satisfied very time her enemies gets easily destroyed. Chyna has no clue why there's a ring or why the star is crystallized. Jackson and Chyna begin to have a little spark of hope that the world the voice was talking about was exactly what they're thinking. Maybe even show their rivals how their video game is better.

Chyna became a little curious, "Wait. You said Star Rings with the letter "s" at the end. How many are there?"

 ** _"No idea. I say around... 60."_**

The gamers were in disbelief. Around 60?! The dream would be over by then!

 ** _"No need to panic, I'm probably wrong."_**

"How could you be wrong?! You're the one that put them... wherever the heck you put them!" Jackson argued.

 ** _"Well, I have faith that you two would be able to find them anyway. Geez, there's really no point in arguing. However, I'm no monster. You two have a choice. You can accept this epic quest that you'll ever have in your lifetime OR you can decline this offer and wake up as this was all just a dream."_**

The teens looked at each other. They hate each other, that's for sure, but they didn't want to pass up this opportunity that might include meeting their favorite all-time hero. Plus, showing them how wrong they were sounds too good to pass up.

The gamers inhaled and exhaled. They both agreed to accept the quest. The room went dark and a red portal showed up in front of them. Jackson and Chyna walked towards it and slowly entered the portal with caution.

 ** _"Well then, let the games begin."_**


	3. Chapter 2: Can’t Beat the Classics pt1

Light filled their eyes. Jackson and Chyna squint their eyes from the blinding red light. Their eyes start to relax as the world became a bit darker. As they open their eyes completely, Chyna let out a loud gasp.

This frightened Jackson, "Huh?! W-What?! What is it?!" Jackson worried.

Jackson doubled-checked her expression. Chyna's face wasn't made of fear, but rather made out of delight. Her smiling face seems to be looking at something that was behind him. Jackson turned around to find a tall, unfinished building that still needed construction. The surroundings were dark, but he could clearly see the structural beams and ladders that help the carpenters climb up to the next floor. The problem is, he doesn't seem to understand why she was so happy about some building.

Jackson looks at Chyna again, clearly annoyed that she scared him for no reason. Then, Jackson did a double-take. He should have sworn that she was in her pajamas earlier. Chyna is now wearing a new set of clothes: A sweater with large red and white polka-dot patterns and green streaks, blue shorts with a brown belt, socks with red and white stripes, brown boots, red and green mushroom earrings, white gloves, yellow star hair clip, and a brown purse with a coin picture on it. Of course, she still has those annoying glasses. He also noticed that her hair is now in pigtails. Speaking of which, Jackson looked down at himself in curiosity. Just as he suspected, he's also wearing different clothes: A tank top with different streaks of blue and a picture of a ring on the side, yellow skinny jeans, white socks, red converse sneakers with a large white strap and yellow buttons instead of laces, a blue sweatband with classic sonic icon on it, a ring with a green emerald on his right ring finger, and a necklace with a guitar charm. Jackson smiles at his newfound clothes as he played with his blue streaks of hair.

Anyway, the clothes aren't as important right now. He needs answers now.

"Hey, voice!" Jackson yelled at the sky, "Where the heck are we?"

The voice from earlier didn't respond, but Chyna did, "Hey! Keep it down!" Chyna snapped. "Do you really not know where we are?" Chyna wondered as if the answer is painfully obvious.

"Um, no," Jackson informed. "I'm not a plumber freak like you. I don't know all of the games your precious Nintendo makes." Even though he doesn't know where they are, the fact that only Chyna is excited and not him clearly means: They're in a Mario game.

Chyna looks around some more, "Well, you might want to change that to carpenter freak."

"Huh?" Jackson looks at her with a weirded out expression on his face. Chyna kept looking around the area which is making Jackson peeved. "What are you looking for, you weirdo?" Jackson demanded rudely.

"An ape." Chyna addressed, still searching and avoiding eye contact with Jackson.

"A w-what?"

And that's when he heard it. From the distance, he heard grunting sounds and felt the ground shake as the sound grew nearer and nearer. Just before he could even blink, a large shadow cast over the two teens and a scream could be heard along with it. The figure that jumped over them landed in front of them, causing a loud quake. Jackson and Chyna let out a yelp as they try to maintain balance. Chyna gasped with delight again while Jackson got a good look at the giant, hairy…oh.

OH.

Oh boy, that explains why Chyna was acting weird. In front of them, is in fact, a GIANT ape. This… gorilla has brown fur and muscular peach skin. Just gazing upon it makes him nervous. He heard that gorillas are as 6-15 times as strong compared to an average human. To be fair, any muscular being makes him feel like he could just easily snap him in half. Another terrifying thing is that the ape is carrying a frightened woman under his arm. The lady kept kicking and screaming for help. Jackson looked at Chyna, her expression seemed to have a mix of worry and... excitement? Gosh, what a weirdo.

The ape didn't stop here, however. The monkey jumped and grabbed on to the ladders of the unfinished building. It climbed up, still carrying the petrified woman beneath its arm, to around 25 meters up. The monkey puts down the lady on the structural beam above where he's standing. The ape looks down at the two teenagers before beating its chest with its fists. Surprisingly, the gorilla starts jumping up and down, causing the beams that support the building to come down at awkward angles. When the ape stopped jumping, he lets out a toothy grin. As if he's teasing them.

"Oh… my… gosh…" Chyna whispered, as her fists shake excitedly and her smile started to grow by the minute.

"Um… Do you need to get your head checked?" Jackson snapped. "A HUGE gorilla is holding a woman captive and you're smiling at that? I swear you get crazier every time I see you."

Chyna looks at him, clearly offended. "NO! It not that! I'm not as heartless as you!" Jackson glared at her. "It's just that, I just amazed by how real this is!"

"Wha… This is just nothing but a dream remember?" Jackson argued.

Chyna is puzzled. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you don't know what this is?" Jackson shook his head. "Are you kidding me? This is **Donkey Kong**! Mario's first ever video game!" Chyna addressed. She just can't understand how he doesn't know such a well-known fact.

But then again, he hates Mario games.

"Donkey… Kong? Like King Kong, from that one movie?" Jackson asked. He could certainly see the similarity. "I thought you said that the Mario series was 100% original."

"They are!" Chyna exclaimed. "At least they have originality unlike your- wait hold on…" Chyna stops in sudden realization.

"Oh no you don't. I wanna see what you have to say." Jackson sassed.

"No! Wait…" Chyna looks around the area. "Where is he?"

"Where is who?"

Chyna glared at Jackson. "Who? I'm talking about the Jumpman! Mario!" She continues to look around, "He should be here by now…"

Secretly, Jackson was jealous that their dream is showing them the world that Chyna admires oh so much. It wasn't fair. But, he would rather die than admitting that to his archenemy. But now that he thinks about it, if this is a game... then where is the protagonist? She had a good point…

Jackson looks up to see the lady walking back and forth, panicking out of her wits. "Well, we can't just wait around. What if she falls or something like that?"

"She won't. She never does. But, I think she'll calm down a little bit once Mario comes…" Chyna's assurance slowly starts to trail off as she thinks for a moment. Then, her face lights up as she thought of an idea. "Wait… What if I'M the protagonist?"

"Don't you mean 'we'?"

Chyna ignores him, "Think about it! Remember what the voice said? We're on a quest to find the Star Rings. If the portal brought us here, then there must be one around here somewhere. Maybe even… up there." Chyna confidently explained while pointing her finger to where the gorilla is, looking at the two of them with curious eyes.

Jackson went pale. "Up there? B-but, I don't see the Star Ring anywhere." He replied, trying to think up an excuse.

"Well, we'll know once we get up there. I mean, this doesn't seem too hard. If this is a dream, I think this is gonna be a piece of cake." Chyna asserted. She smiles and stepped forward after taking a big breath. The monkey sees that and starts to roll down barrels beam after beam. Goodness knows where those barrels came from. Chyna climbs up the ladder and onto the first beam. Thankfully, it wasn't wobbly. Chyna heads left as she gets away from the hopping fireball that came from the oil drums. She climbed another ladder and grabbed a hammer as soon as she got on the second beam. She smiled as she swung the hammer upon the oncoming barrels. She lets go of the hammer as she climbed to the third beam. A barrel was coming at her and she jumped as high as she could.

 _CLANK_

Correction. She jumped a little TOO high.

Jackson was just watching the whole thing unfold and laughed hysterically. So is the monkey.

Chyna successfully dodged the barrel but the pain coming from her cranium hurts so bad that she almost fell off. Despite the pain, she pulled herself together and prepared herself to jump over the next barrel. She did not want to deal with this throbbing headache anymore. She tried jumping with less power but not too low that she might trip…and it worked! She sighed in satisfaction. Finally, although she admits that her new jumping ability was quite odd. Never mind. She continued to climb, jump, and swing her way to the sixth floor while her head was still pounding. As soon as she ascended to the beam where the lady was, the Donkey Kong beats its chest and grabbed the lady before Chyna gets to say anything. The ape climbed its way up to another 25 meters before setting the lady down again.

Chyna looks down at Jackson, "Um, hello? Any help here?"

Jackson shook his head, "Nah, it looks like you got this."

Jerk.

Chyna rolls her eyes and continued upwards. The 50-meter climb was more technical than the first round. On the first floor, she noticed that the lady had dropped her stuff while being carried away. She grabbed the lady's purse before going up. Chyna grabbed another hammer and swung the cement tubs off the beam. Chyna grins as Jackson moved away from the impact. On the third beam, she looked to the left, she needed to be careful of the fireballs. The fireball always follows Mario, even when he climbs the ladders. She clenched her fist and jumped to where the fireball was, jumped over it, and jumped to the other side. She climbed, while avoiding the cement tubs and the fireball, until she reached the fifth beam. The lady smiles but quickly frowned as the monkey grabbed her again to ANOTHER 25-meters.

Chyna sighed and was extremely tired from all the climbing and jumping. Nevertheless, she chooses to press on to 75-meters. There were smaller beams to stand on now, so she had to make sure that she doesn't trip and fall. She climbed two beams to reach for the lady's parasol. On her left, the small beams were being carried down and the other ones were going up thanks to an old-fashioned elevator. She carefully planned her jumps and made it to the right side. There were also jacks jumping to one beam and then falling down to the abyss. She chooses to ignore it as she climbed to where the ape was taunting and teasing her. Of course, the gorilla just had to steal the lady AGAIN before Chyna gets to bat an eye.

Another 25 meters makes 100 meters! Also known as the final round. At this point, Chyna bent down a minute to take a breath. This was a ton of exercise, even for her. She forces herself to carry on and climb up to the final level. This time was different, however. This time, she needs to pull out all eight rivets attached to the steel girders that are supporting Donkey Kong. And that's what she did. She grabbed the lady's hat and puts it on her head as she jumped to one beam after the other. She ran away from the fireballs, smashed the fireballs with the hammer, and pulled out the rivets. As soon as she was finished with the seventh rivet, she climbed to where our so-called villain was and grabbed onto the final rivet, "No more monkey business now, you hear?" Chyna asserted. With a smug smile on her face, she pulled out the rivet and watched the beams descend to the bottom of the building. Donkey Kong beats it's chest angrily before actually falling on top of the beams down below. Cartoon logic I guess.

Chyna sat down and sighed with relief. Thank goodness that was over. The lady climbed down from its beam and went up to her. Chyna happily gave the stuff back to its original owner. Chyna also insisted to carry the lady back to ground level. As soon as the girls got to the ground, Jackson came up to them. While back, Jackson went to a safe distance in case any more stuff was gonna fall from the sky. Either way, the smile on the lady's face felt rewarding. For Chyna at least. "Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much for saving me!" The lady cheered.

"It was no problem, Pauline!" Chyna said modestly. She cannot believe that she's talking to THE Pauline! Is this how Mario feels every time he saves people?

Pauline did a double take. "How do you know my name?" The lady asked.

Jackson glance at Chyna's sweating face, "L-Lucky guess?" Chyna squeaked.

"Well, that doesn't matter," Pauline puts her hand under her chin. "Since Mario isn't here, I'm not sure how to repay you." Chyna was gonna ask her something but she was interrupted. "OH! I know!" Pauline reach into her purse. "I don't normally do this, but..." She pulls out her hand in a closed fist. When she opens it, a light blinds them all for a moment and the Star Ring appeared. "Somebody told me to give this so some teenagers. I can't think of anybody else who deserves it more than you."

Chyna was speechless and Jackson looked at the Star Ring in awe. Chyna reached for it and felt it get smaller in her closed fist. She stores it in her own purse, just like Pauline.

"Well, I hope that helps. Again, thank you so much. I wish you all the best of luck~!" Pauline beamed. She waved as she walked away from the incident. Leaving Chyna and Jackson alone with unanswered questions. Like, who gave this to you? Where is Mario? Why are we here? How can I jump so high?

Of course, finding answers was never that easy. The voice might know...

Behind them, a blue portal appears. The teens both knew that they needed to move on and find the rest of the Star Rings. Jackson, unaware if this is really happening and slightly disappointed that their first stop was a Mario game. Chyna, sad to leave this all behind even if it made her breathless. The gamers prepared themselves before going into the mysterious portal.

 ** _"You're doing great, for a bunch of third-raters..."_**


	4. Chapter 2: Can’t Beat the Classics pt2

**GREEN HILL ZONE: ACT 1**

Blue light blinds their eyes and still hasn't died down. The teens slowly open their eyes, still trying to become acclimated to all this brightness. It surely is bright compared to the last chapter they've been through. Correction: what CHYNA have been though. Still peeved, Chyna manages to fully open her eyes to find themselves in an open field of a sparkling ocean, blue sky, and grassy plains that looks like roads as far as the eye can see. Chyna finds Jackson speechless in delight, which only means one thing...

They're in a Sonic game.

" _Oh great…_ " Chyna thought bitterly. " _Of course we're in a Sonic game. Sigh, the dream must have pitied him during our last trip._ "

Meanwhile, Jackson was smiling from ear to ear. He slowly looks around, wanting this moment to last forever. He felt like exploring. Is that why Sonic runs? Whatever's the case, he also knew that he needed to find the Star Ring.

As the time ticks down, he needs to find it now and fast.

Jackson turned to where Chyna was. Chyna was just sitting down on the grassy road with her sore legs. Jackson tried to speak but was interrupted. "If you think I'm gonna help you, you got another thing coming," Chyna sassed. "You didn't help me out with **Donkey Kong** and I ain't gonna help you with… whatever this is!"

Jackson shook his head in disbelief. "Are you for real? This is the classic **Sonic the Hedgehog** game! And-"

"Whatever! The point is, you're on your own this time. Then, we'll be even," Chyna interjected.

"Trust me, as much as I would love to leave you here all alone," Jackson admitted, "This isn't like **Donkey Kong** where I can just climb up and come right back. As soon as I leave, I might not be able to run back and return," Jackson reasons. Chyna folded her arms together, not convinced. "Besides, if I got the Star Ring first and leave without you, I highly doubt that you would want to be stuck here forever."

Chyna clenched her fist and glared at Jackson harshly, "You wouldn't dare."

Jackson scoffed, "Try me."

As much as Chyna despises Jackson, being stuck here is the last thing she wants to do. Chyna sighs in defeat, "Fine! But I'm not running!"

"Fine with me, just don't waste time. If ten minutes pass, it's time over," Jackson explained just before he took off running.

And HOLY COW! CAN HE RUN!

One foot to the ground and ZOOM! Everything just went by so fast! It was all happening so fast! Jackson quickly skids to a halt but he slips and rolls down a hill and crashed into a wall. Chyna, on the other hand, couldn't see what happened since her pigtails came loose and her hair covered most of her face. While Chyna was fixing her hair, Jackson turned himself right side up and tried to stretch his back. He just started running and now everything hurts. What the heck?

But then Jackson realized that what just happened now was completely abnormal. He never ran that fast before. Come to think of it, Chyna hitting her head might have been abnormal too. But who cares about her? He has super speed! That's way more useful than some stupid jumping ability! Jackson just hoped that Chyna didn't see the whole thing just now...

After stretching a little bit, Jackson tried to at least jog his way to the finish line. Along the way, he could feel a tingle from his feet as he runs. Urging him to run faster. And he did. Every time he got comfortable with a certain speed, he speeds up a little bit more. As he runs, he avoided the robots even when he desperately wants to free the animals. Other than that, he had a time of his life just running through loops, collecting rings, and avoiding spikes and other deadly traps. When it comes to tunnels, he tried spinning-well at least he tried to-and manage to go through them. Even if it was super uncomfortable and made him go dizzy. Then, after he went past the checkpoint he continued to run away from enemies, went across the bridge, hopped from one road to another, and then he finally spotted a giant floating ring not too far away.

" _Alright! Finally!_ " Jackson thought eagerly. Jackson smiles with anticipation. But…as soon as he's a couple feet away from the ring, he stopped. Jackson hesitantly looked back. As much as he would love to leave, he knew that it wouldn't be fair if Chyna was all alone. He knows that he left Chyna to do all the work during the last trip, but… that was because he was still mad. They were both still angry at each other for what they said and what they did to each other. It ain't gonna calm down soon, that's for sure. However, this was different. Even if it was all a dream, he doesn't want to risk anything dangerous happening to Chyna if he jumped through that ring. Not that he'll admit that.

With a sigh, he turned back and ran towards the opposite direction.

Knowing her, she probably still somewhere near the starting area. As he runs, he made a quick mental note to not waste any time. Getting a game over so soon doesn't sound very pleasant. Not knowing how much time has passed, he ran faster before seeing Chyna a couple yards away. Chyna was walking along the road with a scowl look on her face. Jackson skid to a halt, causing the strong wind to make her pigtails become loose once again. She looks so ridiculous, Jackson started to snicker.

"Dude! Will you stop that!" Chyna growled, brushing her hair with her fingers and fixes it up into pigtails again.

Jackson is still snickering, "If only that I've known that I have this speed, I would've done this a thousand times and it'll still be funny! Hahaha!" Jackson joked.

"Grrr...Hey, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the finish line by now?" Chyna wondered. Another question came to her mind, " _Was he always this fast?_ "

Jackson flinched. Shoot. He did not think this far. He sure as heck does not want Chyna to know that he doesn't want to progress without her. Ugh, he could imagine her ego soaring through the roof if she ever found out. Thinking on his feet, he came up with a stupid idea.

Jackson walked towards Chyna, grabbed her, and threw her over his shoulder. "WHAT THE F-" Just before she could finish her outburst, Jackson runs towards the finish line with a kicking and screaming gamer girl on his shoulder. Damn, she is heavy AND loud.

The level was about the same, except now he has to deal with Chyna yelling at him and struggling to get off. Halfway through, Jackson wasn't paying attention and tripped over a robotic crab. Jackson fell down, along with Chyna, and a bunch of rings went flying. Despite the dizziness, Jackson hurried and grabbed a couple rings just before they disappear.

"What the heck?! What were those rings doing here?" Chyna questioned. Of course, Jackson didn't answer her as he threw her over his shoulder again. "Dude, seriously! What is the big idea?!"

As he ran, he finally explained, "The rings are supposed to be a layer of protection! If I run out of them, it's game over!" As pathetic as that sounded, Chyna can't help but get chills of the idea of getting a game over. What would happen if a game over occurred in a dream? Jackson, too, wonders about the same thing. Well, not right now since he's annoyed that he won't be going to that Special Stage any time soon.

Jackson ran as fast as he could to the signpost with Eggman's face of on it. Finally, he ran past it causing the sign to spin until it changed into a picture of Sonic with a peace sign.

 **GREEN HILL ZONE: ACT 2**

The world went black for only a second until it lit up with a similar but a new change of scenery. Jackson was still running from the previous zone. Then, he finally stopped and dropped Chyna to the ground. He rubbed his shoulder. Seriously, it was like carrying a moose! Of course, he wouldn't dare say that in front of Chyna. That girl has been humiliated enough already. Jackson took a knee to take a breath. All of that panic almost made his heart stop. Luckily, they made it past the 10-minute time limit and all he wanted to was to take a break for a little while.

Chyna, however, wasn't gonna let him have any of that.

"Dude! What in the Underwhere do you think that it was ok to just grab me like that?! Are you brain-dead?!"

Jackson held up his index finger at Chyna and gathered his breath. "You... you were taking too long. Don't you remember what I said? If ten minutes pass before we finish the level, it's game over. A time over to be more specific. And if I didn't know any better, I'm pretty sure that I heard that your game has some sort of time limit as well," Jackson reckoned.

Chyna flinched. He knows something about her games that isn't so incredibly insulting? But he has a point, neither of them knows how this dream works. If they waste time for too long, they'll get a time over. Yeah sure, the time over might result in them to wake up from this dream. But, something about this dream isn't normal. It's not normal to share a dream and... it's not normal to feel pain. Especially if it's in a dream. Chyna can still feel the bump that she got from the last chapter. She groans, "Well, what are we supposed to do? I'm not as fast as you are!"

"I could try carrying you to the finish lines." Jackson implied.

"Touch me and I'll fight you punk." Chyna threatened, raising her shaking fist at him.

Jackson shakes his head, "Well, we can't argue about this forever."

Chyna grumbled, "I still don't wanna help you..." Chyna taps her foot and pondered for a solution. Chyna's eyes lit up as she thought of something. "Aha! I got it! You can give me a piggyback ride to the finish line!" Chyna suggested.

Jackson snorted in disbelief, "I thought you said that you didn't want me to carry you?"

"I don't, but it's better than being carried like a sack of potatoes. Besides, you still owe me," Chyna reasoned.

Even if Jackson still wanted to argue, he knew it would be futile. Rolling his eyes, he bent down as Chyna walked behind him. He opened his arms slightly as Chyna wrapped her arms around his neck. With a straight back, he pulled his arms underneath her knees and interlocked his fingers together. He slowly stood up, suffering from the extra weight on his back, and managed to stand up completely. It was a strange sight. He's a very skinny guy and she's a pretty chubby girl. Just to be safe, he bent his knees to remain balance just before taking off.

The second level went by with ease... sort of. He isn't used to carrying heavy stuff that's around 150 pounds. Chyna, was in fact, around that weight level. Because of that, his running is a bit slower than he like it to be. Chyna didn't notice since they were still going pretty fast. Lucky for her, her pigtails were tight and secured this time. But still, Jackson had to be careful. He avoided the robots and avoided tunnels. At this point, his legs were starting to burn. Maybe because of the extra weight? He avoided traps and proceeded to run obstacles and he collected as many rings as he can. He gotta admit, it was pretty funny to see Chyna's reaction towards the loops and the springs. She nearly choked him as she thought they were gonna die at some point.

Finally, the second signpost. Not to mention a giant, floating ring. Chyna was about to question it, but Jackson already passed the signpost and jumped towards the ring. Before even batting an eye, they vanished.

When they both opened their eyes, they thought they were both hypnotized. They both were on their own now. They spun in a world that showed birds and fishes in the background. Chyna spun awkwardly and looked around for a way out. She spotted a couple of balls that said, "GOAL!" So she went towards there. Jackson, on the other hand, has different plans. He wanted to know if he could get the legendary chaos emerald around here. He tried spinning around like a ball, but it wasn't as easy as it was to run. But that doesn't mean that he's gonna give up that easily! As he spun, he bounced off of the bumpers and the walls. As he made it to the crystallized walls, he punched through them and reached out for the gem. As he touched it, the whole world started to spin.

 **GREEN HILL ZONE: ACT 3**

He was dropped to the ground in midair as Chyna glared down at him. She tapped her foot as Jackson struggles to get up. "What. In the world. Was that?" Chyna demanded slowly.

As Jackson got up to his feet, he explained, "That was the Special Stage. They only appear when I collect 50 rings."

"That was some Special Stage. I felt like I was in a slot machine! I almost threw up..." Chyna complained.

Jackson had to agree with her on that one. He was still feeling a bit woozy from spinning around so much. How he got the emerald was nothing more than a mira-, "Huh? Hold on..." His concentration was now focusing on finding the gem. He patted his body and looked around, but he still couldn't find it. He turned to Chyna, "Hey, have you seen a gem somewhere when I landed?" He asked.

Chyna looks confused but shook her head, "Nope, you didn't have anything on ya as far as I'm concerned."

No way, did he actually lose it? He should've sworn that he felt himself grabbing the smooth surface of the stone. Or maybe... was his mind playing tricks on him?

He sighed depressingly, " _Man, that would have been so cool if I got one..._ " Even so, he needed to remind himself to push onward before they get a time over. He urged Chyna to hop on and they both continued towards the end of the level. Chyna was oblivious to this world, but Jackson knew that he needed to be prepared for a particular boss fight. Chyna is probably not gonna help. But that's ok because he didn't need any help from an annoyance.

He ran, hopped over spikes, dodged enemy's attacks, jumped on a spring, and passed a checkpoint. At this point, his mind was starting to fill with anxiety and excitement. He knows what lies ahead but the most troubling part was how was he going to beat _him?_ He can run fast, that's for sure, but will it be enough to beat _him?_ Jackson shook his head out of the gutter. It's probably nothing to worry over. If Sonic can do it, so can he! Jackson continued to run and collect rings. There was a time when they both had to spin in a tunnel individually. Chyna kept refusing but Jackson helped her by giving her a push. After an awkward, dizzy spin in the tunnel, Jackson resumed running while carrying a grumpy girl on his back. After checking another checkpoint, he paused and carefully crossed a spiky spinning log just before going back to his former speed again. He sprinted through a waterfall, leaped on a spring, dashed and hopped before the ground gave away, and all while running past robots and collecting rings. Then finally, he passed the last checkpoint.

Jackson skids to a halt when they both come to a clear field with two floating pieces of land floating on both sides of the area. Jackson and Chyna looked around, Chyna is the most confused, "Hello? Dude? Why did we stop?" Chyna asked in a muddled tone.

"I stopped because I was expecting to see-" Jackson's explanation was interrupted by a loud maniacal laughter.

"HO HO HO HO HO!" The laughter caused both the gamers to look up. Chyna was half-expecting to see Santa Claus. While the mysterious visitor is chubby and wears red, he's NOTHING like Santa Claus. The man was bald, wears pince-nez sunglasses, and a ridiculous, bushy mustache. He's wearing a long-sleeved red shirt with a yellow cape and some white gloves. She couldn't tell what he was wearing for pants since he seems to be riding some sort of half-open, egg-shaped vehicle? She wasn't entirely sure. But Jackson knows that the man's machine is famously known to be the Egg Mobile. Jackson can't help but feel a little bit excited. He clenched his fist as he smiled.

"Dr. Ivo Robotnik. I was half-hoping to see you here." Jackson admitted. He was also half-hoping that his sentence made him sound cooler than normal.

"HO HO HO! At last, we meet you little runt! Prepare to meet your doom, Sonic the- HUH?!" The doctor stopped his cackling speech as he did a double-take. Robotnik adjusted his glasses as he takes a closer look at the two. Chyna took this opportunity to get off of Jackson just in case the weird doctor misunderstood. Jackson gave the villain an amusing glare as the doctor glared back. "Who are you brats? Where's Sonic?!"

To be fair, Jackson was also wondering the same thing. Sonic wasn't anywhere near here. The fact that Eggman was here and was expecting to see Sonic, makes Jackson think that maybe something happened to him. "I don't know what to tell you, man," Jackson confessed honestly.

Eggman didn't seem to like that answer. "You morons! Sonic! An annoying, blue hedgehog that runs really fast! That hedgehog! Don't you dare lie! My robots witnessed him earlier!"

"I honestly don't know. Besides, your robots probably saw me and mistook me for Sonic," Jackson reasoned. That's the only possibility he could think of. But once again, Eggman wasn't having it.

"Grr! Just get out of my way! I have a pesky hedgehog I need to exterminate. Now shoo! Shoo!" The doctor barked. When he saw that the teens weren't gonna budge, he threatened, "Hey, I don't care if you're kids. If you don't get out of my way, then I'll exterminate you both instead!"

Chyna blinked in disbelief. "Me too? What did I do?" Chyna questioned. She turned her head towards Jackson and growled, "This is your fight. You're on your own." Chyna walked away from the soon-to-be battlefield and stood there with her arms crossed. This is payback from the last chapter.

Jackson rolled his eyes and turned back towards Eggman. Eggman was already descending his checkered wreaking-ball from his hovercraft. Jackson bent his knees into position and prepared himself to run as Eggman tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Here I come you little brat!" Dr. Robotnik loudly threatened.

Jackson felt a rush of glee when the crazy scientist came towards the teen with his wreaking-ball. Jackson easily jumped over the ball, while still dodging the chain, and simply landed on the grassy plains. This was indeed easy for a Sonic know-it-all gamer but the real question was this: how was he going to damage Eggman's hovercraft? He could try a spin attack but he hasn't practiced it at all. The thought of screwing it up on the first try just sounded embarrassing. Especially if his arch nemesis is watching. Plus, he didn't know if he could do it in the first place since Sonic's a hedgehog and Jackson isn't. Think Jackson think! What is something that he, himself, could do? Jackson continued to jump from side to side, while his head is pounding for ideas. Eggman is getting frustrated and Chyna is getting bored. When Jackson's legs started to burn again, that's when he got an idea!

Jackson finally jumped up onto the platform. He lowered his arms and bent his right leg. He hopped towards the Egg Mobile, rotated his body, and managed to let out a powerful tornado kick to the hovercraft's underside.

 _CLASH!_

Jackson landed himself to safety with his right foot and turned back to his opponent. Thank you Wiki-How. Now, only 7 more to go.

 _CLANG!_

 _CLINK!_

 _KLUNK!_

With newfound confidence, he continued to kick his way to victory. Jackson jumped from one platform, kicked, landed, and repeated. Though he must admit; for each time his leg comes to contact with metal, his leg starts to feel weak and broken. Goodness gracious, he's going to need a cast after this.

 _SWASH!_

 _THUNG!_

 _CRASH!_

Finally, just one more kick. Eggman must've known this too because his machine was shaking and twitching ever so violently. Dr. Robotnik started to panic. " _I will not be beaten by a little punk!_ " He thought angrily. But then, he switched his gaze onto the teenaged girl and grins wickedly. " _Alright, how_ _about this?!_ "

When Eggman changed his course and turned his back on Jackson, the gamer paused in confusion. " _What the…just what is he up to?_ " Jackson questioned in his mind. Whatever it is, it can't be good. Which makes sense since he's a villain and all. Instantaneously, Eggman activated his blasters and made a mad dash towards a particular arch-rival. When he saw this, Jackson yelled, "Chyna! Run!"

Chyna blinked in surprise just before running away from Eggman's unstable machine. What. In. The Underwhere. Is going on?! "Why his he chasing me?!" Chyna rudely implored, "Jackson do something, you moron!"

For your information Chyna, he IS doing something. Jackson ran towards Eggman with his damaged leg, while Eggman was too busy chortling and catching up to Chyna. Jackson was starting to get worried. Chyna wasn't a fast runner and while the Egg Mobile is almost broken, it was still fast enough to gain on her every time a second passes by. Most importantly, Chyna has no rings on her person whatsoever. Eggman probably knew this and decided to take this opportunity to knock her out with his wreaking-ball. This very thought made Jackson's skin pale and urged his legs to go faster. Eggman is going to KILL her!

Chyna puffed and panted as her lungs started to burn as she ran for her life. Eggman's wrecking-ball brushed her back by only 4 centimeters. "Oh my stars, oh my stars, oh my stars…!" Chyna cried. Her mind is in a state of panic. Why is he attacking her? She was nowhere involved in the fight, so why? Is it because she's avoiding the battle? Is it because she's an easy target? Whatever's the case, she certainly doesn't like this one bit. Chyna looks back and started to freak out when the wreaking-ball starts to pull back like a kid on a swing. Was this the end? They haven't even accomplished their quest yet! Was this seriously the end of their dream? Chyna still continued to run as she closed her eyes tightly for impact.

"DUCK!" Jackson ordered loudly behind her.

Chyna didn't even question it as she quickly fell to the ground and covered her head with her arms. Jackson, with the power of super speed and desperation, managed to catch up to Eggman. He jumped as high as he could and kicked the machine with all of his might.

 _KNACK!_

The Egg Mobile reached its limits as its circuits explode one by one. The remaining wreaking-ball flew off its hinges and flew a couple meters directly in front of Chyna. Eggman tapped his machine's buttons frantically and successfully made his hovercraft stop exploding. "This isn't good, I have to retreat..." Eggman angrily mutters under his breath. The flustered scientist automatically transformed into escape mode and flew it's unsteady Egg Mobile into the sky.

Jackson collapse to the ground. Finally, a moment of peace. His leg was hurting like crazy, and just standing on it is already bad enough. Chyna slowly puts her defense down and starts to stand up with her sore yet undamaged legs. Now that Chyna can easily catch her breath, she turned around to face an exhausted teen. A tiny part of her is curious to see if he's alright but she shook it off. " _Of course he's fine. Not like he'll tell me anyway. Besides, why should I care? I hate him remember?_ " Chyna concluded bitterly. But there are times to help others rather than to be a smart aleck. Chyna approached Jackson, "Hey. You ok? If you are, then stand up already." Then again, it doesn't hurt to be a little smart.

Jackson switched into a sitting position. "What? You're not gonna thank me?" Jackson asked.

"Meh, I doubt a 'thank you' would accomplish anything. Especially with that leg of yours," While that might sound cruel, she was still angry that Eggman just decided to chase her out of nowhere.

While Jackson silently agrees with her, a small piece of gratitude wouldn't hurt. Speaking of gratitude, Jackson glanced at the far right. Behind him, there was a giant Capsule that contained all the animals. Jackson sighed depressingly. Just thinking about those poor critters inside the Badniks made him feel horrible. If he could, he could reset the game and set them all free from their robotic prisons. Jackson begins to stand up with his shaking right leg as he steadily tries to advance towards the Capsule.

As Jackson wobbled and staggered to the Capsule, Chyna had to fight the urge to help him. She hates him and he hates her. Still, she wonders why that big hunk of metal seems so important all of the sudden. She sighed and felt tired. She and Jackson needs to set some ground rules and give each other info of each other's games. But before she does that, Chyna questions him, "What are you doing?" He doesn't reply as he continued to walk towards the Capsule. She was starting to get frustrated but that was when she saw a button on top of the Capsule. It looks like it could be easily pressed. Chyna walked past a bewildered gamer and jumped on top of the Capsule, thus pressing the button. Immediately, Chyna felt a rumble beneath her feet and hopped off far away from the machine. The Capsule exploded from its sides and smoke filled the air. Emerging from the smoke were small animals! The birds flew and the bunnies hopped away to return to their homes.

Another thing that emerged from the smoke flew upwards and floated back down. It was the Star Ring in its spinning and shining glory. Chyna sighed in relief and she could hear Jackson do the same thing. Just when Chyna was about to grab it, Jackson managed to catch up to her and grabbed her by the forearm. "Huff, huff... what do you think you're doing? That's MY Star Ring! I was about to release the animals!" Jackson hissed.

Chyna pulled back her arm from his grip and scoffed, "You were taking too long! Besides, look at your leg! You need to chill with the jumping. Let me do that from now on!"

Jackson was taken back by her strange statement. " _Man, this dream is really messing with my mind._ " Jackson concluded. Jackson decided to just stay silent and wobbled his way to the Star Ring. He snatched the Star Ring as it disappears into his fist. But that was when he realized that he has nowhere to put it. He glanced at Chyna who has her palm out towards him as a 'gimme' gesture. He felt his eye twitch as he gives her the Star Ring in a grumpy manner. Chyna happily puts it in her purse with a smug smile on her face. That was also when another red portal appeared in front of them.

Before Chyna could speak to him, two birds flew down with bandages and a cane and offered it to Jackson. Jackson smiled and gave a silent thank you. The birds flew away to their families as Jackson prepared himself to enter the portal. However, Chyna grasped his shoulder, who clearly has something to say. "Seriously though. We really need to talk. Let's talk when we crossover, ok?" Chyna suggested, slightly hoping that he'll agree with her. Jackson pondered with that idea but he still didn't say anything. He entered the portal as Chyna nervously trails after him. Well, at least they're even now. Sort of.

 _ **"Imbecile fool. What were you thinking?!"**_


End file.
